Earworm refers to the phenomenon of song fragments of the same song playing repeatedly in the brain. It is a word translated from German. It also has a serious scientific name called involuntary musical imagination.

It seems that the occurrence of earworms has no rules, but neuroscientific researchers with an exploratory spirit have made some generalizations and conclusions about the phenomenon of earworms. The results showed that people were more likely to develop earworms under these circumstances:

During periods of frequent exposure to music in a variety of media. If you are immersed in music for a long time, it is very likely that you will develop earworms.

Associate or recall. Some environments and events can trigger people's associations or memories, and those fragmented thoughts may stir up earworms.

Emotional state. When a person is in a certain mood, a fragment of a song that expresses the related emotion may come to mind. At this time, earworms may become amplifiers of people's emotions.

A state of low attention. Earworms can easily creep in when people are less focused and distracted from the task at hand.

The occurrence of earworms is also related to the type of person. Research shows that people who rely more on music, or people with frequent brain activity and jumping thoughts are more likely to develop earworms.

What kind of songs are likely to become earworms? Generally, they have one or more of the following characteristics:

Have been heard frequently recently. It’s easy to understand and you hear it often, so your memory and feelings about the song are more vivid.

Songs with many repetitive parts. Songs with more repetitive parts are also more popular, and according to the psychological repeated exposure effect, people tend to like things they are exposed to repeatedly.

My personal favorite song. If you like it, you will always think of it.

The songs I haven’t finished listening to. Continuing with the noun~The Zeigarnik effect in psychology: that is, people are more impressed by things that have not yet been processed than by things that have been processed. If you only listen to part of a song, it's more likely that the song will remain in your mind.

In some cases, the presence of earworms drives us crazy. So how do you get rid of earworms? Here are some ways to get rid of earworms collected from the Internet.

Find the original song and play it from beginning to end, or think of a way to sing the song to the end in your mind.

Think about, listen to or sing other songs, preferably songs you don’t like, otherwise it is very likely that the ending will be replaced by a new earworm...

Diversion of attention, Talk to people and find something interesting and immersive to do.

Appeasement policy: appeasement, indulgence, concession and surrender. Just let it ring, everything has an end, and there will always be a time when it rings.

The existence of earworms has long been a mystery in neuroscience. No other form of music invades the human mind as extensively and frequently as music. Let scientists continue to explore the understanding of earworms and the brain. Most of the time, we don’t need to worry too much about earworms. Instead, we should be grateful that we are such a mobile and portable private radio. Next time If you have earworms, don't be restrained. Why not hum the lyrics to the melody in your head and sway to the beat?